Jennifer Dill Marc Schlossberg Linda Cherrington Suzie Edrington Jonathan Brooks Donald Hayward Oana McKinney Neal Downing Martin Catala Project Background Collaborative Research Center for Urban Transportation of South Florida (CUTR) Oregon Transportation and Research Education Consortium (OTREC) Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) Research Roles Define Rural Measures Define Urban Measures Develop National Transit Livability Database and Dashboard Project Goals Develop National Transit Livability Measures Inform Stakeholders of livability measures Impact Decision makers FTA feedback on outcomes of transit investments Transit Agencies aware of livability outcomes Communities consider livable goals Livability Principles Enhance the unique characteristics of all communities by investing in healthy, safe and walkable neighborhoods, whether rural, urban or suburban. Support Existing Communities Target federal funding toward existing communities through transit-oriented and land recycling to revitalize communities, reduce public works costs, and safeguard rural landscapes Value Communities and Neighborhoods Expand location- and energy-efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races and ethnicities to increase mobility and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation Promote Equitable and Affordable Housing Livability Principles Improve economic competitiveness of neighborhoods by giving people reliable access to employment centers, educational opportunities, services and other basic needs Enhance Economic Competitiveness Provide more transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs, reduce our dependence on oil, improve air quality and promote public health Provide more transportation Choices Align federal policies and funding to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding and increase the effectiveness of programs to plan for future growth. Coordinate and Leverage Federal Policies and Investment Research Results Development of Transit Livability Measures Urban Measures developed Identification of variables that influence urban ridership Rural Measures developed Identification of measures directly impacted by transit and aligned with 6 livability measures. Findings Incomplete Transit Data (fixed route and Demand response) BETA dashboard of transit livability Challenges Index Development based on theoretical idea of Livability National Scale Many livability variables and measures are local in nature and not available on a national scale. Data Challenges Lots of data (transit, blocks, streets) Lots of analysis (service area buffers) Lots of HOLES in transit data Challenge- Development of Index TTI established straightforward indexing Challenge with no external validity Any model measuring livability is constrained by the reality that there can be no empirical observation of what livability is. Metrics reflect outcomes related to livability principles Not punitive Informative Decile indexing scale 1-10 Challenge- National Scale Data Reliable data (accuracy and precision) available at local level Reasonable alternatives to support development of Index Rural transit service data characteristics Manually collected Land Use and Housing Characteristics LEHD Data for commercial activity, and employment locations Urban Fixed Route Service Characteristics GTFS 80% of transit trips covered by agencies with GTFS data Rural Transit Case Studies GTFS Agencies Challenges - Data Large Data Sets Census Blocks 11,078,297 Block Groups 217,740 records Census Tracts 73,057 Census Designated Places 19,540 Analysis Geographic Analysis Service Area Analysis Total Agencies: 215 States: 34 Total stops: 396,643 Total Routes: 8,821 Urban Livability Measures Percent of Pedestrian Generating Business and Population Served by Transit Support Existing Communities Intersection Density at Transit Stops Value Communities and Neighborhoods Percent of Multi-Unit Housing Served by Transit Promote Equitable and Affordable Housing Urban Livability Measures Percent of Employment Serviced by Transit Enhance Economic Competitiveness Transit Frequency, the number of times serviced by transit Provide more transportation Choices Rural Livability Measures Unlinked Passenger Trips Per Rural Developed Land Support Existing Communities Annual Unlinked Passenger Trips per Transit Needs Population Value Communities and Neighborhoods Percent of Household Income Not Spent on Transportation Promote Equitable and Affordable Housing Rural Livability Measures Active Revenue Vehicles per 1,000 Square Miles of Rural Land Area Enhance Economic Competitiveness Percent of Workers that Did Not Drive Alone to Go to Work Provide more transportation Choices Local Operations Funding per Operating Expense Coordinate and Leverage Federal Policies and Investment Dashboard (Preview) Searching Features Text Search Features Auto complete Full List of Search Results Dashboard Features Drill down mapping feature Index Score Index Details Conclusions Several missing pieces National Fixed Route and Demand Response Data Support Livability and Other Federal Initiatives Map21 Transportation for the Nation Census Verification of Mode information reported Support the National Household Transportation Survey (NHTS) Assessment of transit availability of respondents National Spatial Data Infrastructure (Federal GIS program) Conclusions Step Beyond Index More powerful measures Transit Travel Time Matrix National Accessibility Measures TransitAccessibility.org